Classic Mini Rust Repair

Restoring a classic mini can be very time consuming especially if you donnot spot the initial telltale signs or if you try to cut corners by buying inferior parts, panels etc,. this will cost you major  in time.

 Where do we start  here ?  we'll  I go with the common front end rust to begin with.

All Panels are easily available from any Classic Mini Specialists ie, Mini Spares if your in the UK,

or Mini Mania in the USA.

They are very specialist parts so donnot skimp on this as you will regret the ill fitting panels.

Minis and Common Rust Detection

So If  you look carefully around the windscreen Scuttle section, you can see where the rust had eaten through, this actually leads to the under gusset closing panel which is non existent here, this is an additional smaller independent panel which fits directly under the corner section as above. It looks like a curved section which has to be welded back into place directly under the corner scuttle section.

The scuttle section is available as whole one piece if needed, or you can  buy the corner pre-cut  windscreen corner sections, easily welded back into place.

Here you can easily spot the common effects of rust, usually leading to replacement of whole panels or quarter repair panels as above, so a new complete Front O/S Wing was welded into place here with quarter sections forming the Front panel ( in black), new A Panel , and of course if you look carefully you will see the scuttle windscreen corner section has also been repaired.

If your wondering what are the initial signs of rust, just look for general bubbling of paint work, check around the seems and alignment, you will soon notice the signs of common rust on these old Minis they usually all follow the same pattern.

A common area always the A- panel sections usually start with a small Bubbling of paint around the lower section where it is most exposed to rain and debris.

For DIY- Restoration purposes you will need to become a good welder, all rust / body panels and quarter panels will need to be precisely cut away and re-welded carefully back into place, a lot of panel fettling time and patience will be needed for the perfect future finish.

 

 

 Nearside A- panel

Both A-panels were beyond repair cut out and repaired.

New A-panels welded into place.

Classic Mini A Panels Click Here

Two Pack Primer was used here, this has better adesion and repairs will not sink 

or react with the top coat of paint.

Scuttle came out very smooth

All prep work completed. 

 Its surprising how long it takes to get round a little Mini, the panels are not bolt on 

they must be cut out and replaced with new panels.

All rust repairs would need to be replaced with fresh new sheet metal carefully 

 welded  into place!

Almost ready for the body shop re-spray

This was professionally resprayed in Two Pack Fire Red

Turned out awsome!

Thanks for looking, any comments welcome!

Classic mini oil leak

Oil Leaks can be a real pain to detect at times the most common Oil leaks I found on the classic mini are as follows, below I will go through them individually.

Firstly the obvious engine oil leak I found was the sump plug this one was an easy fix, a new copper washer had solved the problem. If you find the sump plug head or edges are worn just replace this for a new complete plug.

The most renowned oil leaks on any classic mini has to be the drive shafts oil seals followed by the gearbox selector rod shaft seal. They are not the easiest parts to fit  therefore you need to get Quality parts that will last, you can get them or see what they look like Click Here

Note : You Donnot Have To remove the engine Gearbox to carry-out the oil seal repairs this can be easily carried out from below.  

(This is my own Full Restoration project ).

If your doing a full restoration job before fitting back the drive shafts its always best to fit new oil seals to either end of the Gear box as above, also don't forget the gear box selector oil seal  these are renowned for leaks. This is a fairly difficult job removing the selector shaft, there is a metal guard partly bolted on the exhaust and covers the selector shaft, you must remove this plate first, this gives good access to the roll pin which must be hammered through in order to release the gearbox selector shaft, this is where the oil seal sits.
 

The selector shaft has to be removed at the beginning of removal of the engine so its wise to remove all the old oil seals whilst the engine /gearbox is out refitting the new complete seals.

CV Boot Repair Kit

If your in this game then you must know how frustrating this gets at times!. I found this Universal Stretch CV boot repair kit came in very handy after re-fitting the sub frame and damaging the cv boot. The axle shaft cv joint some how was caught and damaged,  it was only a tiny split but If  left would only deteriorate further, also being an M.O.T failure it was best to get this fixed.


It doesn't matter how hard you try sometimes you will end up doing some damage !

The whole Stub Axle (front hub) was removed to make this an easy refit. The axle drive shaft does go straight through the Sub- frame you cannot remove this without taking the the Inner Pots apart, which must be refitted back in the same positions to avoid further complications. Or by taking the outer end cv joint apart.

This was very frustrating as the axle cv joints were all working Fine.

If you do find your cv- joints need replacing, there is no way around this you will need to fix this, the only way to remove this from the Sub- frame is the messy way, by splitting the Inner joints apart or using  a special tool puller tool 18G 1243. (not easily available these days) but remember the drive shaft cv- joint will not pull through the sub frame it must be taken apart. This can be a tough job as you will find it difficult to pull the joint apart, it is retained by a cir-clip, you need to hold this shaft in a straight position, using a copper hide hammer give the edges a good whack hopefully they will come apart. Also don't forget to drain the oil out when pulling the Inner shaft away from the gear box.
There is some risk of damaging the joints here! as you are hammering at the joint you may end up needing a complete new axle drive shaft (if seized or damaged) kind of defeats the object. But that's mechanics for you.

How Can you tell if your CV Joints Need Replacing

To be honest here the joints do and will last a very long time even if they are clicking they will not just fall apart but this will indicate ware so first off if you notice clicking noise when cornering then you can bet its coming from the Joints, how ever I wouldn't panic these joints can still outlast you and me even in this situation providing the cv- boot is not split allowing Ingress of debris. (I would still replace them).
If on the other hand you find a clicking noise when driving in a straight line, I would definitely be looking to change the joints here.

Alternatively if your cv- joints are fine and you find just your boot is split! you have a choice to make! Complete removal of suspension and drive shaft or try one of these universal boot kits. I'm not keen on the split type or the glue patches therefore I can only recommend what has worked for me, as mentioned above depending on your vehicle, part of your front suspension ie, bottom ball joint/ track rod end or strut will need to be removed in order of pulling away the drive shaft it self for repair.

How to fit the CV Boot Kit 

Any how moving forward, if your rubber cv- boot is damaged or split, you should definitely be looking to replacing this a.s.a.p to avoid ingress of debris which will cause further more serious damage to the joint itself.

This kit I found on eBay will fit a variety of vehicles in fact over 90% of vehicles. In my demo video below you can see how easy this job became, this is an example I was working on my Mrs Car here. It worked out well as it passed its annual m..o.t. inspection test.

The trick is to avoid  too much grease on the fitting cone, don't put a ton of grease on the CV boot cone thinking it will make it slide over easier the opposite will happen, (I've done that, it doesn't work!). You only need a small amount of grease which is supplied with the kit.
 I was so impressed with just how stretchy but tough this product is, I have began to use this as a Universal CV boot repair kit. using this special tool kit, you simply clamp the clip tight then any access rubber is cut away.

 This is the CV Boot Repair Kit  Replacement Instructions.

The boot is universal will fit a variety of drive shafts, once fitted carefully cut away the access.

You should end up with a Nice clean Tight CV Boot as Below.

Universal CV boot repair kit.

Buying A Classic Mini

Welcome to my Blog - when considering buying any Classic Mini you should be doing your research well to avoid ending up with a complete rust bucket. All old Mini's suffer,

  corrosion problems being the initial fundamental issues with these old classics - but you can easily spot the signs.

Who actually buys these old cars, are they in demand  are they appealing, do they still hold or increase in value- there were over 5 million made, one of the most popular cars ever made.

I can see the appeal amongst the boy racers no disrespect to the younger generation here - these cars are easily fixable every single part is available but how practical or reliable are they compared to today's technology I think Not but then again that's the point here you either get it or you don't.

Your normal person would rather just buy a new conventional car just for peace of mind you know its going to start in the morning when you need to be at that appointment etc.

Unless you somehow fine tune or revamp one of these old classics you donot stand a chance in terms of reliability eg :                 

• Turns over but wont fire up
• Battery keeps going flat
• Back fires
• Using to much fuel 
• Keeps cutting out
• Misfiring in general
• Misfiring when raining
• Poor cold start
• Poor Hot start
• Low Oil pressure
• Smokey exhaust with whitish or black fumes
•  Running Hot
• Pinking
• Knocking /rumbling noise from engine
• Fuel smell
• Car Wonders or pulling to one side.  
• whirring/ humming noise from wheel 
• Difficult to engage gear
• Jumping out of gear
• Crunching noise from gear box
• Clutch Slipping
• Oil Leaks

These are some of the common faults which can and do occur, if you can answer all of the above questions then congratulations your half way there to restoring your Mini.

If you donnot understand or think that the above list is Too long then you will most likely give up and classic car restoration is not for you ! - on the other hand if you have the passion and are willing to learn you will most likely succeed and don't forget the whole point here is ...Would  You Find Great satisfaction in restoring and running one of these classic Mini's ?.

  

If your considering Buying a Classic Mini  Click here.

Take  a look at Some of my favourite Mini's on display in Birmingham Motor Show UK.

The Old Classic Mini Timeless!

Classic Car Shampoo Protector Click Here

Classic Mini Suspension - Front End Rebuild

The Problem was all the Mountings including Body Mounts, Engine Mounts, Rubber Cone Suspension, Lower and Upper Suspension Arm Bushes, Ball joints etc, even the Steering rack were all completely worn out.  

(New Rubber Cone Set Click Here)

The Exhaust was blowing  where the flexy pipe had been broken from hitting the road bumps caused by the suspension rubber cones also worn out and sunk to such a level it all needed replacing, so the Engine and Sub-frame had to be removed this was my first task, apart from cutting out the old rusty o/s front wing and A panel.
The engine bolts - mountings were all removed to begin with from the underside the rubber mountings were completely torn in half you could actually lift the engine upwards with no resistance. I don't not know how this passed an M.O.T. in the first place.

The Front sub frame was in very good condition just a good clean up and re- paint  was needed it came up like new. All new poly bushes and  mountings were re-fitted. The brake hose pipes front end, were in such good condition they still had the original green coat of paint so this was also good news, no corrosion here and no replacement was necessary here.

Complete Overhaul: Suspension,Steering, Poly Bushes, Brakes and new Hi Lo's Carried Out .
Keep reading, follow the Process as Below. 

 Before trying to remove anything you will need to remove the spilt pin and the Castle Hub Nuts  from each side of the wheel axle-drive shafts. This was a real task for me as this car was just neglected. Its real tough getting these nuts off but they will come off with persistence. A real long bar (infact the bar I used was around 4ft towing pole) turning anti-clockwise ) and a good Socket 34mm ; KS Tools 917.1346 CLASSIC Hex Socket, 1/2" /34mm.. did the the trick just nicely. (If your doing a Full Restoration job, you will find this Tool  comes in handy as it has a dual purpose. This will also release the Suspension Tower Cone Bolts  under the bonnet in each far corner).